Dell > Reviews (104)

I ordered my spangly new Inspiron 510M (a notebook) on 10th August, this year. Yesterday, 16 days later I finally received everything that I ordered.

A brief brochure came through the post, advertising Dell's summer deal: "No matter what system you choose in August, we'll double the memory for free." Clearly this would be a good time to invest in my laptop. Dell are admired for their excellent prices which are kept low since they only supply them themselves ie. there's no middle man (so at least you can forget another trip to PC World!) I logged onto Dell's website (www.dell.co.uk) to find no mention of the offer anywhere on the site. Confused, I decided to ring the "if you have any questions" number and confirm I would receive 512Mb instead of 256Mb as advertised in the brochure IF I ordered online.

The phone system ALONE should have given me warning of what was to come. I pressed "ones" and "twos" all the way to India, where I was then transferred back to Ireland (where Dell Uk is based) Phew! The nice man at the end of the phone seemed bewildered by my simple question and confirmed that I definitely would receive double memory. Excellent! And off I went to order.

Now, this is where you have to be careful. A standard price for each system is advertised on the website, but suddenly it's adding up to a few hundred more than you'd just read... what's going on?! Read what options you have selected for your system again and again, because Dell "helpfully" chooses some options which it thinks you can't live with out (extented warranty and the other most expensive options) Also, if you want the freebies you have to select them. In my case I would receive a free printer I didn't want which won't work on any other computer and only comes with "trial" ink. Wow, what a gift! Still, there was no mention of my double memory.

I placed my order, which came to the best part of £1K. I was bombarded with codes and passwords for order tracking etc. I scribbled it all down eagerly. These codes allow you to track your computer through all stages from order to receipt. Dell links you to Walsh Western, the delivery company they use, so that you can track your computer from Ireland to your house. Handy. However, until you've received a phone call to say Walsh Western are delivering the website doesn't tell you a whole lot, and when you do get that call the surprise is sort of spoilt anyway.

The next morning the order confirmation arrived in my inbox. "256Mb" it specified. Uh-oh. Never mind, I thought, according to the details my computer wouldn't be arriving for two weeks (what a wait!) I promptly rang Dell.

Now that I was an actual customer the phone system was much worse. Forget "press one" this time I had to type in strings of order numbers and customer numbers! Argh! Eventually some random person answered. The man at the other end denied all knowledge of the offer and frankly knew nothing other than that which he was clearly reading from a computer screen. Not helpful.

I rang off.

Armed with more information several more phone calls took place over the week, each time with Dell denying an offer which I had in print in front of my very eyes. Sometimes we'd get sent through to a dead line, other times people promised to phone us back and didn't. We sent emails, they were received (automated response generated) but not replied to. Nothing was happening and we were getting nowhere. The temptation to cancel the order was rising.

Suddenly on Friday morning I received a telephone call from Walsh Western asking to deliver on Monday. They knew nothing of any problem. Take off guard I agreed. Furiously, Dell were called again. "We'll call back in 4 hours". FOUR HOURS?! I waited patiently. No one called. Then the person who we had spoken to before had "disappeared" Dell didn't even seem to know who he was. Convenient. After more anger, they offered as a "good will gesture" to deliver the chip separately which we would then FIT OURSELVES!!! Good grief! Getting what you pay for is hardly a good will gesture is it? And as for fitting things yourselves... I can see that warranty going up in smoke!

The next day, we sent a 2 page letter of complaint to Dell Customer "Care" department. Five days later we received a phone call saying that an engineer would fix the chip and they would be in touch.

This week I have received daily phone calls in reference to this and the engineer arrived yesterday, curious to find out why he had such a simple job to do. "It's not because we're stupid," we assured him. "It's a point of principle."

Overall I am quite pleased with my new laptop, though I do find it slower than I would have expected at times. The additional external floppy drive which I ordered was the main other let-down with the order, since it looks more like an internal flimsy drive than something which is an external and essentially independent object in it's own right. I half-heartedly wonder if they sent the right one, but it's not worth the hassle of Customer Services to find out.

The problem lies with a lack of continuity between their mail-shot magazines and their website. Not to mention an appaulling level of customer service - the people we spoke to on the helpline were abrupt, rude, unhelpful and unapologetic. Had they honoured their offer originally I would be singing Dell's praises for their super fast delivery and good prices. Seems that by cutting the costs, Dell has also cut out any remains of customer care.